Stalling with strength gains/ muscle mass - next steps?

[Pzb]

Age: 50
Years continuous training: 13
Days per week: 6 days
Body fat percentage: 10%-12% - been consistent for past 8 years

Diet: 2400 - 2600 calories daily is maintenance for me including my workouts.

35% protein,35% carbs, 30% fat

Bench Press: 225lb working sets
Deadlift: 450 lb max conventional
Squat high bar: 315 working sets
Barbell Rows: 225 lb working sets

Routine: Primary is push/pull/legs, rest, push/pull/legs
I’ll focus on lagging parts by reducing volume in other areas.


Volume is generally per week: 16 -18 working sets for major compounds and 12 working sets for smaller muscle groups. I will adjust based upon recovery.


My favorite workouts always include heavy compounds and full range free weight or machines to failure if possible .

I’ll change up the order, exercises, rep ranges to progress if I hit a plateau.

When I hit a plateau, I will alway try increasing macro intake and calories, add a rest day, or deload before I make routine changes.

Right now I’ve plateaued with progressive overload after a month of going through my normal routine to push through.

I experienced this before for almost a whole year- that’a when I discovered my t levels were very low.

[Cuz]

Age: 50
Years continuous training: 13
Days per week: 6 days
Body fat percentage: 10%-12% - been consistent for past 8 years

Diet: 2400 - 2600 calories daily is maintenance for me including my workouts.

35% protein,35% carbs, 30% fat

Bench Press: 225lb working sets
Deadlift: 450 lb max conventional
Squat high bar: 315 working sets
Barbell Rows: 225 lb working sets

Routine: Primary is push/pull/legs, rest, push/pull/legs
I’ll focus on lagging parts by reducing volume in other areas.


Volume is generally per week: 16 -18 working sets for major compounds and 12 working sets for smaller muscle groups. I will adjust based upon recovery.


My favorite workouts always include heavy compounds and full range free weight or machines to failure if possible .

I’ll change up the order, exercises, rep ranges to progress if I hit a plateau.

When I hit a plateau, I will alway try increasing macro intake and calories, add a rest day, or deload before I make routine changes.

Right now I’ve plateaued with progressive overload after a month of going through my normal routine to push through.

I experienced this before for almost a whole year- that’a when I discovered my t levels were very low.

Thats a good response. Whats your experience with gear? Just trt?

[Pzb]

Thats a good response. Whats your experience with gear? Just trt?

Just TRT.

[Cuz]

Just TRT.

So you have never ventured from trt and done a cycle well hard to believe but thats quite an achievement. I would think about cycling but at your age why start now. You probably already look good too if it were me just maintain and keep my hormones flat

[Pzb]

So you have never ventured from trt and done a cycle well hard to believe but thats quite an achievement. I would think about cycling but at your age why start now. You probably already look good too if it were me just maintain and keep my hormones flat

My TRT journey started after I noticed a drop in energy and not progressing in the gym.

I asked to check my t levels just out of curiosity and it came back very low. So I tried the traditional supplements, rest, etc to improve my t levels until my next annual check up.

A year later, my t levels dropped way below the normal range. I suspected this already because I was slowly losing strength, feeling sleepy all day, and was putting on body fat regardless of the same routine I had used for years.

Now on TRT, I feel energized and can focus. The best part is being able to progress after stalling for two years.

[Testie]

Age: 50
Years continuous training: 13
Days per week: 6 days
Body fat percentage: 10%-12% - been consistent for past 8 years

Diet: 2400 - 2600 calories daily is maintenance for me including my workouts.

35% protein,35% carbs, 30% fat

Bench Press: 225lb working sets
Deadlift: 450 lb max conventional
Squat high bar: 315 working sets
Barbell Rows: 225 lb working sets

Routine: Primary is push/pull/legs, rest, push/pull/legs
I’ll focus on lagging parts by reducing volume in other areas.


Volume is generally per week: 16 -18 working sets for major compounds and 12 working sets for smaller muscle groups. I will adjust based upon recovery.


My favorite workouts always include heavy compounds and full range free weight or machines to failure if possible .

I’ll change up the order, exercises, rep ranges to progress if I hit a plateau.

When I hit a plateau, I will alway try increasing macro intake and calories, add a rest day, or deload before I make routine changes.

Right now I’ve plateaued with progressive overload after a month of going through my normal routine to push through.

I experienced this before for almost a whole year- that’a when I discovered my t levels were very low.

From what I see in your routine it looks like your leaning toward strength training verses bodybuilding and from my experiences with powerlifting it’s really a thinking game, one thing that always worked for me was to use percentages of my one rep max and set up my sets and reps accordingly, I always followed a system put out by Ed Coan when I was actually going for numbers and it worked I’m not saying I was a super beast but I did this with no juice or equipment and in a couple of years my bench went from somewhere around 335 to 425 for an easy double if I were to go back and pursue numbers again I would definitely look into utilizing the “west side method “ I guy can be stuck at 3 plates his whole life and never meet his potential by not working a proven plan but still be training his ass off with not much results

[Honkey_Kong]

Age: 50
Years continuous training: 13
Days per week: 6 days
Body fat percentage: 10%-12% - been consistent for past 8 years

Diet: 2400 - 2600 calories daily is maintenance for me including my workouts.

35% protein,35% carbs, 30% fat

Bench Press: 225lb working sets
Deadlift: 450 lb max conventional
Squat high bar: 315 working sets
Barbell Rows: 225 lb working sets

Routine: Primary is push/pull/legs, rest, push/pull/legs
I’ll focus on lagging parts by reducing volume in other areas.


Volume is generally per week: 16 -18 working sets for major compounds and 12 working sets for smaller muscle groups. I will adjust based upon recovery.


My favorite workouts always include heavy compounds and full range free weight or machines to failure if possible .

I’ll change up the order, exercises, rep ranges to progress if I hit a plateau.

When I hit a plateau, I will alway try increasing macro intake and calories, add a rest day, or deload before I make routine changes.

Right now I’ve plateaued with progressive overload after a month of going through my normal routine to push through.

I experienced this before for almost a whole year- that’a when I discovered my t levels were very low.

I can tell you right now that you're not eating enough food. And it gets hard to keep the fat off when you get older. TRT or not. Being on TRT isn't supposed to be like being on a cycle of gear, it's supposed to alleviate low T symptom.

And for somebody who is 50, benching 225 for working sets, deadlifting 450 squatting 315 and doing 225lb rows isn't bad at all. 99% of the people your age can't do that. But you also have to accept that you're not 20 anymore. I'm not saying you should be happy with what you've got and not expect to make any forward progress. But you can't expect to get the same results that the half-your-age you would've had doing exactly what you're doing now.

You should probably add a thousand calories a day (maintaining the same macro ratios) and see if that increases your gains.

[Pzb]

I agree with this and will increase my calories.
It’s getting hard to eat clean and get calories.